Toothbrush



NOV. 13, 192, 1,691,863

R. H. VAN SANT TOOTHBRUSH Filed Nov. 25, 1923 I g Z 19 19 /6 ,ZL/ /Z /Z j Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

" ROBERT E. VAN SANT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

,TOOTHBRUSH.

Application filed November 23, 1923. Serial No. 676,548.

' a tooth brush that will have a scraping action and also serve as a vehicle for tooth paste to more efficiently utilize such paste to polish the tooth enamel.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a tooth brush composed of cup shaped segments adapted to have a vacuum cup effeet that will suck foreign matter from crevices and conversely will force tooth paste and fluid through the gaps between the teeth.

It is a further object. of this invention to provide a form of molded rubber tooth brush that can be renewed in'the handle whenever for any reason such an action becomes desirable.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the specification and accompanying drawings.

This invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a tooth brush embodying the features of this invention.

Figure 2 is a long section on the line 11-11 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross section on the line III- III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line IV-IV of Figure'2.

As shown on the drawings:

The device of this invention comprises a handle 10, which may be either straight or curved as shown and of any desirable material, preferably a white metal or a molded product such as celluloid, hard rubber, or

henol condensates. The handle has a longitudinal slot 11 with tapered side and end walls to form dovetails to retain a complementary base 12 on the tooth brush elements proper in position. This base is provided with a number of stiff pins 12 embedded therein in the softer grades toprevent collapse'of the dovetail and consequent separation from the handle. These pins are not always necessary with the harder grades of rubber which possess suflicient inherent stiffness to retain their position. The tooth brush proper is composed of a series of cup like members formed as-a series of independent elements 15 as shown in the figures. These individual cup like members 15 are formed with a central recess or crater 16 having a sharp rim or edge 17, the whole member 14 or 15 being formed of a very elastic or soft grade of rubber compound whereby the rim 17 will conform to the uneven tooth profile. It is also contemplated to form the moulded rubber into various grades of softness to permit individual choice according to the sensitiveness of the gums and the difficulty experienced in cleaning the teeth.

It is a peculiarity of this form of suction cup that the wet rim serves as a scraper or squeegee to remove tartar from the tooth enamel while the central depression 16 serves as a vehicle for the tooth paste used as a cleaning agent, forming a soft background that forces the paste against the teeth to thoroughly cleanse them in a way utterly impossible of performance with a bristle brush. The. cup like depressions together with the elastic properties of the members also serve to pump the cleansing agent back and forth through the crevices between the teeth thus reachin all surfaces of the teeth. The flexible rims 1? reach into the spaces between the teeth at least as far as the bristles of an ordinary brush would and these rims have the property of scraping thev tartar off the tooth enamel.

The various cup like members 15 are spaced slightly from one another to give greater flexibility to the rims 17 The space between members is partly'filled by matching projections 18 which are formed on each member.

In each figure a form of teat or projection 19 is positioned in the center of the recess or crater and serves to rub tooth paste and the like into the space between teeth and at the margin of the gums while the rims 17 operate with a squeegee action on the broader surfaces of. the teeth.

It will thus be seen that I have invented a highly satisfactory and improved form of tooth brush, that will thoroughly clean even inaccessible portions of the tooth surfaces.

I am awarethat many changes may be made, and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range Without departing from the principles of this invention, and therefore do not purpose limiting the patent ranted hereon, otherwise than 5 necessitated y the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

A tooth brush of the class described, comprising a series of spaced moulded members leaving sphericai depressions in the faces thereof, pointed projections in the center of said depressions, and sharp edged rims composed of a flexible material.

I In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ROBERT H. VAN SANT. 

